Parliament summons Blakk Rasta over 80% MPs smoke wee comment
Parliament has summoned reggae musician and radio presenter , Blakk Rasta , to appear before its Privileges Committee for alleging that 80 per cent of members of Parliament (MPs) smoke wee.
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The Speaker, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, who issued the summons, did so after the member of Parliament for Afigya Sekyere East, Mr Henric David Yeboah, had drawn his attention to a publication in the Wednesday June 17, 2015 issue of the Searchlight newspaper which quoted the presenter as saying on a programme he hosts on Hitz FM, an Accra radio station, that about 80 per cent of Parliamentarians smoked marijuana.
The paper quoted Blakk Rasta as saying: "There are about 80 per cent of parliamentarians who smoke wee, so why do people think those who smoke marijuana go mad.
There are a lot of people in Parliament who smoke but will want to remain unknown. People who smoke marijuana are presidents so if your President is smoking marijuana, how can you say someone will get mad."
The Speaker, the Majority Leader, Mr Alban S.K Bagbin and the Deputy Minority Leader, Mr Dominic Nitiwul, took a serious view of the statement attributed to the presenter.
Mr Adjaho, in making the order, relied on articles 122 and 123 of the 1992 Constitution and Standing Order 30 (2) of Parliament.
Article 122 of the 1992 Constitution states: "An act or omission which obstructs or impedes Parliament in the performance of its functions or which obstructs or impedes a member or officer of Parliament in the discharge of his duties, or which affronts the dignity of Parliament or which tends either directly or indirectly to produce the result is contempt of Parliament."
Article 123 states: "Where an act or omission which constitutes contempt of Parliament is an offence under the criminal law, the exercise by Parliament of the power to punish for contempt shall not be a bar to the proceedings under the criminal law."
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Standing Order 30 ( 2 ) describes Contempt of Parliament as "Any act or omission which affronts the dignity of Parliament or which tends either directly, or indirectly to bring the name of Parliament into disrepute. "
Mr Adjaho, in his ruling, said: "This is a proper and fit case to refer to the Privileges Committee. I am, therefore, giving the committee two weeks to submit their report to the House. In the deliberations of their work, they should take Article 123 into account. Therefore, the publication is referred to them and in that publication, the person whose name has been mentioned and the paper and radio station referred accordingly."
The order comes barely 48 hours after a lecturer of the School of Medicine and Dentistry of the University of Ghana Prof Alex Dodoo, was summoned to appear before the Privileges Committee of Parliament for his unsavoury comments about the House.
Majority and Minority angry
Mr Bagbin said it was important that Parliament started applying the rules and added that the reluctance of the House to apply the rules was fuelling indiscipline in the society.
He said with advent of social media, freedoms appeared to be unlimited and democracy was interpreted to mean irresponsibility and added that if the laws were not applied, the country risked sliding back into anarchy.
In his view, the lukewarm attitude of government towards applying rules and cracking the whip was resulting in chaos in the country.
He described Parliament as a decent House where more than 90 per cent of members did not even smoke cigarettes and said the comments alleged to have been made by Blakk Rasta were not only contemptuous of the House but also had criminal implications.
Blakk Rasta, as well as the newspaper which published the article he said, needed to substantiate the comments he allegedly made.
Mr Bagbin said compared to the Judiciary, Parliament has been lenient and reluctant to cite people for contempt because the institution believed that it would take a long time for Ghanaians to understand its functions and importance.
But this time, he said, the statements allegedly made were too contemptuous to be glossed over.
Mr Nitiwul said if his constituents thought he was a wee smoker, they would not have voted for him.
He said smoking wee was a criminal offence for which one could be jailed and added that Blakk Rasta needed to state how he arrived at that conclusion.
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"This House has enormous powers. People think you can just insult or denigrate Parliament and go scot free. For once this House should bite," he said.
He said members of the public needed to educated extensively on what constituted contempt of Parliament.